Self-centering bale handler



4 Sheets-Sheet 1 W QW D. W. GAU LT SELF-CENTERING BALE HANDLER Oct. 14,1952

Filed June 14, 1950 Jana BY m

Oct. 14, 1952 I p, w, u -r 2,613,829

SELF-CENTERING BALE HANDLER Filed June 14, 1950 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 E a I I:

in H

IN VEN TOR.

1 R 20220 66221125 .N BY M Oct. 14, 1952 o. w. GAULT 2,613,829

SELF-CENTERING BALE HANDLER Filed June 14, 1950 4 Sheets-Sheet 3 36- 490 Z Z .3 16 /j a i -i I l IHHI- Jo a/d BY Patented Oct. 14, 1952 UNITED. ,LSTATES PATENT OFFICE I I I: Q H 2,613,829 I SELFI-CENTIERING BALE HANDLER Donald .W. Gault, Battle 'Creek, Micha assignor I -,to Clark Equipment Company, ,Buchanan, ,Mich a corporation of Michigan 7 Application June 14, 1950, Serial 168,120

My invention relates generally to load supporting means for industrial trucks/and, more specifically, is directed to" a self centering bale handler. I

At the present time,*in-the material handling field, there'are numerous'devices'for use with industrial trucks which are adapted to engage the upper and lower surfaces of a tier of bales, as, for'example', cotton bales, for transporting the latter withinwarehouses, yards, freight cars,

and trucks. To the best of'my knowledge these devices generally comprise "horizontal'iload supporting means and horizontal load engaging means which are mounted for vertical movement toward and away from each other. The" load supporting means is mounted usually to the lower end of a first pair of vertically extending slide members and the load engaging means is secured to the upper endof a second pair of slide members, which pairs of slide members are guided one within the other. Sui-table'rope and pulley means or hydraulic piston and cylinder assembly means is provided for effecting relative movement between the pairs of slide members. Constructions of this character are not only bulky and expensive, but also require the operator of the industrial'truck to manually operate suitable control levers for actuating the rope and pulley means or hydraulic piston and cylinder assembly means,'in addition to operating the lever provided for controlling vertical movement of the device within the mast of the industrial truck.

- Furthermore, :the" aforedescribed devices are rigidly mountedto the load'supportingcarriages of the industrial trucks, and I 'have noted that considerable tim'eis consumed by the operator of the truck in maneuvering thelatter into position adjacent the 'load'to be picked up, since the truck must be substantially in line with the load before the latter Loan be engaged.

It-is anobject-of my present invention to provide an industrial truck with a bale handler-for gripping and releasing loads automatically, relieving the operatorof the truck of the necessity of manipulating any controllevers other than.

: 7 Claims. (Cl. 214-112) porting means.

pivotally mounted load engaging means and second vertically extending frame means, to which, at the lower end thereof, is secured load sup- I further propose to pivotally mount the upper end of the second frame means to the load engaging means intermediate the ends thereof, whereby relative vertical movement between the load supporting means and the first frame means will cause the load: engaging means to pivot about its connection to the second frame means. Thus, when the load supporting means is urged upwardly, 'withfre-v spect to the first frame means, the load'engaging means is swung away from-the load' supporting means, and when the load supporting means is urged downwardly, with respect to the first frame means, the load engaging means is swung toward the load supporting means. The upper end of the second frame means is pivotally mounted to the load engaging means closely adjacent the pivotal mounting of the latter to the first frame means, and thus small relative movement between the first and second frame means effects a largemovement of'the outer end of the load engaging means. It will thus be understood that when the load supporting means is lowered into engagementwith the ground or the upper surface of a tier of bales the'second frame means causes the load engaging means to swing away from the load supporting means, "thereby permitting'the latter to be disposed beneath a tier of goods. After the load supporting-means has been positioned beneath the goods to be picked up the operator need only raise the load supportingcarriage of the industrial truck, which causes upward movement of the first frame means relative to the second frame means, thereby causing the load engaging means" to swing into engagement with the upper surface "of the load disposed on the load supporting the provision of first-vertically extending frame 7 means to which, at the upper end thereof, is

means. The load may'then be driven to the desired location and'the load supporting carriage lowered until it contacts the ground, which again causesithe load engaging means to swing away from the load, releasing the latter, and'permitting the truck to be backed away. uIt is a further object of my present invention to provide a bale handler which will permit an operator of a truck,'to which the bale handler is attached, to engage loads not in alignment with the lengthwise axis of the truck;

I propose to accomplish this. object by pivotally mountingthe secon'd frame means, about a verticalaxis, to'support means secured'to'the load supporting carriage of the truck, thereby permitting the outer ends of the load supporting member 24.

means and load engaging means to be rotated away from the lengthwise axis of the truck.

It is still a further object of my present invention to provide a bale handler, of the character described, which is self-centering with respect to the lengthwise axis of an industrial truck.

I contemplate the provision of support means which will permit the second frame means, load supporting means, and load engaging means to be rotated about the vertical axis when the load supporting means is disposed in engagement with the ground, and support means which will, when the load supporting means is elevated from the ground, urge the load supporting means and load engaging means to a normally forwardly projecting position.

It is a still further object of my invention to provide a bale handler of the character de scribed, which may be easily secured to and detached from the load supporting carriage of an industrialtruck in order that other material handling devices may be secured thereto;

Now, inorder to acquaint those skilled in the art with the manner of constructing and using the device of my present invention, 1 shall describe, in connection with the accompanying drawings, a preferred embodiment of my present invention.

In the drawings:

Figure l is a sideelevational view of an industrial truck .to which the bale handler of my present invention has been mounted;

Figure 2 is a front elevational view of the bale handler of Figure l; v

Figure 3 is a partial side elevational view of the bale handler of Figure 1;

Figure ,4 is a front elevational view of the bale handler of Figure 3;

Figure 5 is a rear elevational view of the bale .handler of Figure 3; and

Figure 6 is a partial plan view of the'bale handler of Figure 3.

Referring now to Figure 1, there is shown an industrial truck, indicated generally by the ref-- erence numeral I 0, which comprises a main frame vl I, to which at the forward end thereof is mounted a pair of steering wheels l2 and at the rear end thereof is mounted a-pair of driving wheels [3. The truck I0 is further provided with a conventional hand steering wheel [4 mounted adjacent the upper end of a steering column l5, which has connection, at its lower end,.through suitable linkage means to the forward steering wheels I2.

Mounted adjacent the upper end .of the frame II is .a seat 16 which is provided for the operator of the truck. Suitable control .levers I! are disposed adjacent the drivers seat l6 for controlling the various devices of the industrial truck H3. Pivotally mounted to the main frame I I, adjacent the forward end thereof, is the lower end of a substantially:vertically extending mast l8 which may be tilted from its normal vertical l position by means of a conventional tilting mechanism, indicated generally by the reference numeral l9, which tilting'mechanism is secured at its one end to the main frame H of the truck l0 and at its other end to the mast IB,iintermediate the ends thereof. Mounted for vertical movementwithin the mast I8 is a conventional load supporting carriage, indicated generally by the reference numeral 20. f I

-Mounted to the forward surface of the'load supporting carriage 20 is a vertical transverse plate The plate member 24 .is secured to the load supporting carriage 20 by means ofa pair of inverted hook-shaped bracket members 25, suitably secured, as by welding, to the rear surface of plate 24, which bracket members 25 have tongue portions 26 which engage the rear surface of the load supporting carriage 20 along the upper edge thereof.

Secured, as by welding, to the forward surface I lower ends thereof.

Located in juxtaposition of the upper vertical flange portion 30 is a block member 32 to which, at the lower surface thereof, is secured, as by a bolt 33, a depending tongue member 34. The member 34 is adapted to engage, and co-operate with, the camming surface '28 of the tubularrsupport member 21. Disposed adjacent the forward surface of the block member 32 is a vertical transverse plate member 35 which, together with the block member 32, is secured to the flange 30 by means of a pair of vertically spaced bolts 36.-

Located adjacent the lower flange 3| is a block member 4 l. Disposed adjacent the forward surface ofblock member 4| is a vertical transverse plate member 42 which, together with the block member M, is secured to the lower .fiange 3| by means of a pair of vertically spaced bolts 43;

Secured, as by welding, to the forward surface of the transverse plate member 35 are a pair of horizontally spaced'vertically extending standard angle members 44. The angle members 44, adjacent their lower ends, are secured to the forward surface of the transverse plate member 42 by means of bolts 45.-

The transverse plate member 42 has secured, as by welding, to the forward surface thereof, adjacent each side of the angle members 44, a pair of vertically extending C-shaped channel members '46.

Pivotally mounted to the upper ends of the angle members 44, about an axis 40, is theone end of the main leg of a T-shaped load engaging member 47. Disposed between the C.-shaped channel members 46, in alignment with the angle members 44, are a pair of vertically extending standard angle members 48 which, at their upper ends, are pivotally mounted, about an axis 55, to the load engaging'memb'er 41, intermediate of the ends thereof. Secured to the transverse legs of the angle members 48, adjacent the lower ends thereof; is a vertical transverse plate member 49 which is adapted to bearagainst the forward legs of the C-shaped channel members 4t. 'A pair of fork frames 52 are mounted to the vertical transverse plate member 49,'by means of a pair of inverted hook-shaped members Slighav- I shall now describe infdetail'the operation of the bale handler of my present invention.

v,When. it is desired to pickup a load, as, for

example-bales of cotton, the'industrialtruck -lfl' is maneuvered adjacent the tier to be picked up. The load supporting carriage 25-is then lowered by operating selectively one vof tl e control levers at' ll.-j-i Downward movement of the load supporting carriage 20 causes the fork frames 52 to engage-,with-the ground. After the fork'frames 52 engage the ground, further downward movement of the load supporting carriage 20 causes the pair of angle members 44 to move down- Wardly relative to the angle members 48, thereby causing the load engaging member 41 to swing upwardly about axis 55, from the position shown in dotted lines in Figure 1 to the position shown in solid lines. Further downward movement of the load supporting carriage 20 causes the tubular support member 21 to move downwardly, with respect to the shaft 49, thereby causing the tongue member 34 to be withdrawn from engagement with the camming surface 28.

When the bale handler is in the position last described, it may be swung in either direction about the vertical shaft 29, as, for example, to the position shown in dotted lines in Figure 6, thereby permitting the fork frame 52 to be aligned with a load which is not in alignment with the lengthwise axis of the industrial truck ID. By mounting the fork member 52 for swinging movement about a vertical axis considerable time is'saved, since the operator of the industrial truck ill need not align the truck 10 with the load to be picked up.

After the fork frames 52 have been disposed beneath a tier of cotton bales the load supporting carriage may be raised by means of the appropriate control lever at IT. Upward movement of the load supporting carriage 20 causes the tongue member 34 on the shaft 29 to engage with the side of camming surface 28. Further upward movement of the load supporting carriage 28 causes the angle members 44 to move upwardly with respect to the angle members 48, thereby causing the T-shaped load engaging member '41 to swing downwardly about axis 55, intoengagement with the upper surface of the load supported on frames 52. After the T-shaped load engaging member 41 has been disposed in engagement with the upper surface of the load, further upward movement of the load supporting carriage causes the fork frames 52 to be ele vatedfrom the ground. The weight of the angle members 44 and 48 and the fork frames 52, together with the load supported thereon; tend to cause the tongue member 34, on the post member 29, to ride downwardly along the camming surface 28, on the tubular support member 27,

until the tongue member 34 is disposed in the central pocket thereof, thereby self-centering the bale handler with respect to the lengthwise axis 6 Ifv it should be desired to deposit theloadin a; position other thandirectly infront of-the truck,-

the load supporting carriagei-ZU' may ;,be lowered still farther until the. tongue member pen the shaft/:29, is removed from engagement with thecamming edge 28 of the-tubular: I support 21, whereupon the truck maybemaneuvered so; as to swing'the fork frames 52 about the-vertical axis;

While I have shown" and described what I believe to be a preferred embodiment of my present invention, it will be understood that various modifications and rearrangements may'be made therein without departing from-the spiritand scope of my present invention.

I claim:

1. For use with an industrial truck, the combination of a vertically extending main frame,

load engaging means pivotally mounted to said main frame about a transverse axis adjacent the upper end thereof, vertically extending second-' ary frame means, load supporting means mounted to said secondary frame means adjacent the lower end thereof, and the upper end of said secondary frame means being pivotally mounted to said load engaging means intermediate of the ends thereof whereby when said load supporting means is urged upwardly with respect to said main frame said load engaging means swings away from said load supporting means and when said load supporting means is urged downwardly with respect to said main frame said load engaging means swings toward said load supporting means. 7

2. The combination of claim 1 wherein said load supporting means extends horizontally.

3. The combination of claim 2 including a plurality of link members pivotally mounted adjacent their one ends to said main frame and pivotally mounted adjacent their other ends t saidsecondary frame means.

4. The. combination of first frame means adaptedto be mounted to the load supporting carriage of an industrial truck, second frame means, means for pivotally mounting said second frame means to said first frame means about a vertical axis, load engaging means pivotally mounted to said second frame means about a transverse axis adjacent the upper end thereof, third frame -means, load supporting means mounted to said third frame means adjacent the lower end thereof, and the upper end of said third frame means being pivotally mounted to said load engaging means intermediate of the ends thereof whereby when said load supporting means is urged upwardly said load engaging means swings away from said load supporting means and when said load supporting means is urged downwardly said load engaging means swings toward said load supporting means for gripping a load therebetween.

5. The combination of claim 4 wherein said mounting means normally positions said second frame means parallel to said first frame means.

6. The combination of' claim 5 including a plurality of link members pivotally mounted adjacent their one ends to said second frame means and pivotally mounted adjacent their other ends to said third frame means.

7. For use with an industrial truck, the combination of a main frame, load engaging means mounted to said main frame adjacent the upper end thereof, secondary frame means, load supporting means mounted to said secondary frame means adjacent the lower end thereof, and the upper end of said secondary frame means 7 beingll'moulitedi teas-aid. load engaging" means whereby whenxsalid load supporting 'm'eans is urged upwardly with'resp'e'ct to said main .frame sagi'dloadengaging means-moves away from said 1oad.:supporting"meansiand when said; lead supp'o'rting' means 'is"urged? downwardly with respect to sa'idtmain. frameisaidload.engaging means is moved toward said. lead supporting. means.

DONALD W. GAULT.

REFERENCES CITED The following r'efiences are of reco'rd'in the file of this patent? UNITED. STATES PATENTS Number Name Date Remde" Feb. 2', 1932 Abbe Feb. 23, 1932 Remde May 3, 1932 Gfrorer Sept. 6, 1932 Cochran Feb. 3,. 1942 Beagle Aug. 29, 1950 Cartwright Nov. 21, 1950 Coupland et a1 Mar. 13, 1951 

